Electronic terminals are well known by customers. For example, some electronic terminals may print or dispense items of value such as coupons, tickets, wagering slips, vouchers, checks, food stamps, money orders, or traveler's checks. Another common type of electronic terminal enables bank customers to engage in banking transactions without the assistance of a banking representative. These types of terminals are referred to an automated teller machines (“ATM”).
The types of transactions an ATM can perform are determined by the hardware and software capabilities of the specific machine. In particular, most ATMs enable customers to withdraw cash, deposit funds, transfer funds between accounts, and pay bills, without the assistance of a customer representative. For purposes of this disclosure, references to an ATM, an automated banking machine, or automated transaction machines shall encompass any electronic terminal, which carries out customer transactions.
Automatic teller machines typically include a card reader, a personal identification pad, a vault, a cash dispenser, a receipt provider, and a central processing unit or computer. To begin a transaction, a user inserts an identification card into the card reader and enters his or her personal identification number (“PIN”) on the identification pad. The computer within the ATM verifies the accuracy of the PIN through an electronic network. If the user enters the correct PIN and the account is in good standing, the ATM completes the transaction(s) initiated by the user.
Like all computer controlled machines, ATMs may not function properly even though the user has inserted his or her identification card and provided the correct PIN. For example, the ATM may experience hardware problems if the cash dispenser or receipt provider were to become jammed or if an optical sensor in the identification card reader were to become dirty. Additionally, some ATMs may experience software problems or faults, much like personal computers often do, that prevent users from initiating transactions. When problems or faults arise, the ATM may enter a stand-by mode that denies users access to the machine. Clearly, when in stand-by mode, ATMs become a source of frustration for operating organizations and the customers desiring to utilize the machines.
Traditionally, when an ATM experiences a problem or fault, a bank representative places a telephone call or sends an electronic message to a remotely located servicing organization indicating that the ATM has experienced a technical problem. After receiving the message, an in-house technician at the terminal monitoring solution may dispatch a field technician to inspect the faulty ATM. Upon arriving at the faulty ATM, the field technician issues diagnostic commands to the ATM computer that generate data representative of the fault or faults experienced by the machine, referred to as log and tally information. If the generated data is succinct, the field technician telephones the terminal monitoring solution and verbally communicates the data to an in-house technician. If, however, the data generated by the ATM is not succinct, the field technician records the data in electronic form, usually on a floppy diskette, travels back to the terminal monitoring solution, and hand delivers the diskette to an in-house technician for analysis. After analyzing the diagnostic data, the in-house technician instructs the field technician on how to clear the fault from the ATM. Of course, the field technician must once again travel back to the ATM in order to complete the corrective action.
Sending field technicians to nonfunctional ATMs consumes vast amounts of time and resources, and is extremely prone to error, especially when field technicians must verbally communicate fault data to in-house technicians. Furthermore, as the use of ATMs and other electronic terminals becomes more prolific, the number of problems and faults to which field technicians must attend is likely to increase. Thus, the traditional method of responding to ATM faults is destined to become an even greater expense and burden for ATM operating and servicing organizations.
Therefore, a need exists for improved methods for identifying ATM faults. A system and method of identifying problems from a remote location would be beneficial. A system and method which allows identification of ATM problems without transferring sensitive customer data to a remote location would be further beneficial.